Country Music/Transcript
Transcript Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby Tim and Moby are sitting on the bank of a river eating lunch. Tim is eating a sandwich while Moby looks anxious. Their canoe is floating nearby. TIM: You know, I didn't think I'd like canoeing down the Hoochapulaski River but so far, I've had a great time! MOBY: Beep. TIM: Oh come on, you know there's nothing to be scared of. MOBY: Beep. Beep. TIM: Hill robots? That's just a legend. There's no such thing as… Sounds of a banjo playing are heard. Tim drops his sandwich into the lake. Four hill robots appear. They all look different and are made out of a variety of metal objects. TIM: Hill robots. Do, do you think they're friendly? Moby shrugs. A robot points a pitchfork at Tim. A letter is attached to the end of it. TIM: Eghh! Tim reads from the typed letter. TIM: Dear Tim and Moby, we want to start a band, so we need to know more about country music. Can you tell us? Sincerely, The Hill Bots. P.S. Yes, we're friendly. Oh, okay. We'd love to tell you guys about country music. The hill robots make happy sounds and wave their arms. An image shows six different country music CD covers. TIM: Well, today, country music is a huge industry. Superstar musicians sell millions of CDs and play sold-out shows around the world. An image shows a woman singing and playing a guitar on stage in front of a large crowd. TIM: But it started out as folk music, played by ordinary people from the Appalachians. An image shows three people sitting in wood chairs and playing acoustic string instruments. MOBY: Beep. TIM: That's a mountainous area in the eastern United States. And before the twentieth century, it was pretty isolated. A map shows the eastern United States. The Appalachian Mountains are shaded on the map. TIM: The people who lived there developed their own unique culture, and music was a big part of their lives. A pop out shows the three musicians sitting and playing their instruments outside a house, surrounded by mountains. TIM: Traditional Appalachian bands usually included a fiddle, a banjo, a stringed instrument called a dulcimer, and other stuff too, like guitars, basses, and mandolins. An animation shows the Hill-Bots playing a fiddle, a banjo, and a dulcimer. An image shows a guitar, bass, and mandolin. TIM: You know, you guys aren't bad. The Hill-Bots are shown with their instruments. They nod and bow. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, during the 1920s, Appalachian musicians started releasing records and playing their songs on the radio. That exposed the music to a much larger audience, and it gave rise to the first group of country stars. An image shows a family listening to a radio. TIM: Back then the biggest were Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family. The Carters featured finger-picked guitar and tight, close harmonies. An image shows Jimmie Rodgers and a sample of his singing is heard. The image also shows the Carter Family and a sample of their music is heard. TIM: Rodgers incorporated blues and gospel into his music and became famous for his yodeling vocals. A sample of Rodgers yodeling is played. A Hill-Bot imitates his yodeling with a metallic voice. TIM: You got it, Hill-Bot, that's a real blue yodel. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Millions of people listened to these artists, and many others, on a weekly radio program called the Grand Ole Opry. An image shows a band performing on an outdoor stage. Signs behind them read "WSM," "Grand Ole Opry," and "650." TIM: The Opry was based in Nashville, Tennessee, which soon became the capital of country music. By the 1940s, new artists were adding new sounds to the mix, some of them based on the music of the West. A map of the eastern United States shows Nashville, Tennessee. TIM: Like, Bob Wills introduced Western swing, a jazzy style popular in Texas dance halls. An image shows Bob Wills. TIM: Singing cowboys like Gene Autry popularized tunes about life on the range. And Hank Williams became the king of honky-tonk music, which came out of rough-and-tumble dance joints in the South. Honky-tonk lyrics usually dealt with heartbreak and hardship. Side by side images show Gene Autry and Hank Williams. Samples of their singing and music are heard. HILL-BOT: Twang! TIM: Don't worry, traditional Appalachian music stayed popular too. Bluegrass and roots music feature banjos and fiddles, and they're still played by musicians all around the world. An image shows a band of five musicians performing. TIM: During the 1950s and 60s, country began sounding slick and polished, though; like a countrified version of pop music. Known as the Nashville sound, it included string sections and smooth, crooning vocals. This brand of country broadened the music's appeal, and helped stars like Patsy Cline sell millions of records. At the same time, outlaw artists like Johnny Cash, were creating edgier music that stayed true to the roots of country. Side by side images show Patsy Cline and Johnny Cash. Samples of their singing are heard. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, country music just kept getting more popular as time went on. Rock-and-rollers traveled to Nashville to collaborate with country musicians, while country stars began placing hits on the pop charts. By the end of the 20th century, country stars like Garth Brooks and Shania Twain were breaking records and album sales. An image shows a newspaper. The headline reads "Country Music Album Charts" and there are pictures of Garth Brooks and Shania Twain. Samples of their music are heard. HILL-BOT: Twang? TIM: Well, they each sold in the tens of millions of albums. I think you guys need to practice a little more before you get that popular. But you definitely have talent. Do you think you can play us a song? The Hill-Bots play their music. Moby covers his ears. TIM: Um, I think we need to get back to that, that canoe now. Tim and Moby are in their canoe. Tim is resting while Moby rows the canoe down the river. The Hill-Bots wave good-bye. Category:BrainPOP Transcripts Category:BrainPOP Arts & Music Transcripts